The field of this invention is skimming devices for skimming floating solids and/or liquids off of the top of a carrier fluid.
Situations requiring the removal of floating solids and/or liquids from the surface of another liquid are innumerable. For example, it has been found necessary to remove oil from the surface of water, polyethylene pellets from water and sewage scum from the surface of water in a waste treatment plant. As presently advised, there are several attempted solutions now being used in industry. For example, it is known to simply place a "trash" pump at the surface of the fluid containing the floating solids or liquids; however, the pump either runs dry, clogs or pumps entirely too much of the carrier fluid, thus defeating the ultimate purpose--separating the floating material from the carrier liquid. Another attempt involves the use of various types of mechanical skimming devices for engaging the surface of the floating solid or liquid and physically attempting to skim or move the floating solids and/or liquids to an isolated area where the floating solids and/or liquids are removed. Floating skimmers have also been tried, but with only limited success. One of the difficulties with floating skimmers, which ride upon the surface of the carrier fluid by means of buoyant force on it, is that floating skimmers tend to bounce around whenever they are touched in any way by an operator or just from agitation of the carrier fluid itself.